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No Stopping 'Pokemon Go'?

How many mainstream media stories will it take to kill the Pokemon Go craze? Our guest is Boston Globe columnist Dante Ramos. (Published Thursday, July 14, 2016)

Police around New England say they are seeing a growing number of problems as the popularity of the smartphone app Pokemon Go continues to explode.

On Wednesday, police in Concord, New Hampshire, arrested a 13-year-old boy for assault after he slapped a man following an argument about Pokemon Go.

According to Concord Patch, the teen and two adults - one of them a relative - were playing Pokemon Go on Main Street around 8:30 p.m. when the teen began yelling and swearing. When one of adults tried to get the teen to quiet down, a fight ensued.

Also on Wednesday night, police in Worcester, Massachusetts, said two men were robbed at gunpoint while playing Pokemon Go.

The two victims - ages 22 and 25 - said they were playing the game around 7:30 p.m. and wound up on Stockton Street.

They were sitting in a car when two men approached them. One of the men produced a gun, pointed it at the driver and demanded his "stuff" The 25-year-old victim handed the suspect a Ruger 9mm handgun and cash. The suspect then struck the victim in the head with the handle of his gun. The 22-year-old victim had his wallet, cash and car keys stolen. The suspects remain on the loose.

In Waterford, police responded to a complaint on Wednesday night from a resident who said a Pokemon Go player was parked outside his house.

Later in the evening, another player approached a Waterford police cruiser as the officer was waiting for the locked gate to the police lot to open. The player approached the side of the car and asked to get into the lot to go get a Pikachu.

Released last week, Pokemon Go is already the top-grossing app in the iPhone app store. To play, you just fire up the app and then start trekking to prominent local landmarks — represented in the game as "Pokestops" — where you can gather supplies used to capture creatures and then battle other players.